Arsenal Plan Audacious Summer Move for £18m Fabregas Replacement

Arsene Wenger has earmarked Mikel Arteta as the man he wants to replace Cesc Fabregas – should the Arsenal captain move to Barcelona in the future.
Fabregas was at the centre of a summer long transfer saga with boyhood club Barcelona, who had two bids turned down for the Spaniard.
The Arsenal midfielder moved to London when he was 16 and Barcelona were desperate to bring him back to the Nou Camp this summer.
Fabregas was even pictured in a Barcelona shirt when Barcelona’s Carles Puyol and Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina pulled one over his head.
Barcelona’s players publicly called for Fabregas to ditch Arsenal for Spain, claiming Barcelona was ‘in his DNA’ but the 23-year-old decided to remain at the Emirates.
Pep Guardiola is expected to come back for Fabregas and make another bid in the summer and reports in Spain suggest that Wenger has got Everton’s Arteta at the top of his wanted list if his captain does leave.
Arteta, 28, only signed a new five-year contract at Goodison last month but Wenger is a long term admirer of the former Rangers midfielder.
David Moyes is confident of keeping Arteta but Wenger will have a lot of money to spend from any sale of Fabregas and a big bid will give him a massive decision to make. (TalkSPORT)

Not sure how much mileage this bit of speculation from TalkSPORT deserves but perhaps its worth taking a closer look at the potential Arsenal move. There is much talk about Cesc Fabregas’s likely move to Nou Camp next summer and as usual a host of Nou Camp players have talked about his imminent arrival as though the deal was already signed and sealed, but hang on. Didn’t they think that before the transfer window just gone?

What is to say that the Gunners will continue to hang on to their mercurial skipper? There is no reason whatsoever for the north London club to sell. The Emirates side does not have any financial worries to speak of and the 23 year old Spaniard is their prized asset.

A lot could depend on how much success the club achieves this season. If Wenger fails to end a five year silverware drought then perhaps rumours will intensify, if the club wins a big trophy, then speculation will surely inevitably die down.

Now onto Mikel Arteta. The Everton man means as much to the Toffees as Fabregas does to the Gunners, Moyes would not accept offers for the 28 year old but perhaps he would feel tempted by a chance to prove himself in the Champions League.

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